Disturbing meltdown last night...no, LITERALLY

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OK, my problems probably seem more entertaining than some others expressed here, but even I have my problems from time to time. So if I have something to say that you can relate to or maybe even give you a chuckle, then my pain and suffering has not been in vain!

As anyone can see from my custom rank, I am a dedicated (or obsessed, take your pick) Synclavier owner/operator. If this means nothing to you, then let's just say that a Synclavier is a monstrous synthesizer/workstation that was popular among big studio owners back in the 80s/early 90s. They were constructed from military-grade parts and wildly expensive. The sound quality, given that these machines are technologically obsolete, is astounding. And for an "obsolete" instrument, they have features that are yet to be replicated by modern synth workstations and computer plugins. Despite having over a decade pass without any significant update to the hardware, they are still in use. For example, the sound effects from the "Avatar" film were made using a Synclavier.

I LOVE this machine. OK, you get it...

So I'm working last night when it occurs to me how I might get my MO drive working again. I think it needs an active SCSI terminator, which I don't have, and one of my SCSI cables is broken from heavy abuse when I bought an AKAI sampler a couple of years ago. I figure out if I rearrange my studio (which is just a wall of my bedroom), I can get the cables together that I KNOW will work without stretching them, so I connect my spare SCSI cable to my dino Mac and thus terminate the SCSI chain. Lo and behold it WORKS! So rather than moving on and composing music for a handbell project I'm working on, I get distracted and decide to try transferring some sounds from my Synclav HD to the MO. It's getting late, I'm getting sleepy, I click the mouse on something, and all of a sudden I hear CLICK and the characteristic sound that resembles a jet engine powering down (massive, noisy fans spinning down).

This has NEVER happened to me before...

So I'm at that moment of denial, clicking on the terminal emulator and repeating to myself "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no..." I push the little red manual reboot button. NADA. I turn the switch off and the back on. Nothing. I pull the plug out the back of the tower and have a look. The plug has MELTED!! !! And there's this sticky goo on the end of the plug and inside the socket! At this point I'm just sitting on the floor, rocking back and forth, quietly muttering "no, no, no, no, no..." I calm down, take the bottom panel off and look inside to make sure there aren't any burned wires or anything. Everything looks fine. I replace the panel. The main PSU is about halfway up, so I remove the panel it's attached to. Nothing smells funny, still no burned wires... I'm starting to feel a LITTLE bit better.

My hands are still shaking at this point, but I manage to get the screws back in the PSU panel, by which point my breathing has slowed significantly. I get back on the floor and remove the fuse. It has OBVIOUSLY blown. I'm feeling much better, but by now nausea has set in. I give up and go to bed since there's nothing I can do, and somehow I manage to keep from throwing up.

It could have been MUCH worse, and I'm not freaking out any more. But has anyone here ever had something that to, say, an NT, might not be such a big deal ever affect them so catastrophically? Given that I've sunk a lot of money into this thing, parts are rare and virtually irreplaceable, and I've staked a lot of my work (and hence my career) on this thing, I can't afford a failure (I do have a backup plan, but it's not a prospect I particularly enjoy).

Maybe someone here can help me with this one:

This morning I decide to make a run to Radio Shack. The fuse I need is a 15A, 32V, Series 313. Radio Shack only has a 15A, 32V, Series 312. Now I'm starting to get nervous again. I reluctantly purchase the fuse and replace my burnt one. The salesman is confident that worst-case-scenario the Synclav will just fail to start up, but nothing WORSE will happen. I have a spare power cable I can use until I can get one with a thicker gauge. I plug it in. I walk around to the front of the tower.

I cross my fingers...

I take a deep breath...

I cover my eyes...

I push...the...button...

And then...

The clouds parted and a light shone forth from heaven, and the birds were singing and a heavenly choir sang in French. It was beautiful. It started up just fine.

But I'm not an idiot. I sit back with a stopwatch and wait 5 minutes, constantly sniffing the air for burning odors, and when the time was up I shut it back down, felt the wall outlet with my hand as well as the socket panel on the Synclav. Everything was still cool to the touch. Perhaps all is well with the world, but I'm determined to test it out first and check at 10-15 minute intervals.

I'm crazy-paranoid right now and not the least bit happy about the situation. What I'm wondering is this: Did I do the right thing? Will a standard-gauge computer power cable work long-term, and is the 15A 32W 312 fuse going to hold up (i.e. work without destroying my lovely Synclav)? The original cable was a lot thicker and it melted--so what about the cheaper, thinner cable? Or had the older one just had all it could take and finally just short out? These cables are not handled roughly at all, so could it just be it just disintegrated? And what was that sticky goo on the end of the plug and inside the socket? And, of course, if it wasn't the cable, what caused the overload? The ONLY thing I did differently was I added a SCSI MO drive. That's IT. Could that really have been all it took to overload the main circuit?

Ay...so many questions, and so much fear. Any technical people out there think you have a clue as to what might be going on, and is my "band-aid" solution good enough? Or do I need to see about getting parts that match the blown fuse and cable exactly?

I'm going to go curl up in the fetal position now...

I have been had meltdowns at work I work on electronics specifically a microwave radio system and we have vhf repeaters and lots of radio equipment-well ater a lightning strike all bets are off and what gets me pacing and having a meltdown is when I really need assistance and I cant get it and as far as your connectors problem if the connector that holds the fuse has become resistive when you draw current through it-heat will be produced across the resistive contact-it can get very hot right there and your fuse should be fine just fine but use you sense of touch and what I do I use my nose and I can smell the heat rising if it is getting hot but not smelling like something is burning up yet-it does work sometimes

I don't have a clue as to what went wrong or how to fix it. I do think that your reaction is not all that strange, given the investment (both financial and emotional) you have in the equipment. I know if something related to my special interests (especially something that would be that difficult to replace) was possibly destroyed, I'd be in pretty bad shape myself!

~Kate